Opera & Ballet

Collected opera and ballet reviews

English National Ballet’s Nutcracker Delights is a true Christmas cracker

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom English National Ballet’s Nutcracker Delights: Dancers of English National Ballet, English National Ballet Philharmonic / Gavin Sutherland (conductor). Filmed at the London Coliseum on 18 & 19.12.2020 and now available on YouTube. (JPr)

Erina Takahashi (Sugar Plum Fairy) and Joseph Caley (Prince) (c) ASH

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An ample sense of Christmas magic from BRB’s ‘chamber’ The Nutcracker at The Rep

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United KingdomUnited Kingdom The Nutcracker at The REP: Dancers of Birmingham Royal Ballet, Members of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia / Paul Murphy (conductor). On demand streaming (for information click here) of live performance from 18.12.2020 at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, available until 24.12.2020 at 20.12.2020 (JO’D)

Momoko Hirata (Sugar Plum Fairy)
& César Morales (Prince) (c) Johan Persson

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Roberto Alagna and Vida Miknevičiūtė make their role debuts in Calixto Bieito’s unromantic trial by jury Berlin Lohengrin

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GermanyGermany Wagner, Lohengrin: Soloists, Staatsopernchor, Staatskapelle Berlin / Matthias Pintscher (conductor). 13.12.2020 performance at Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin, streamed (directed for TV by Andreas Morell) and available on ARTE Concert until 15.1.2020 (click here). (JPr)

Lohengrin Act III (c) Monika Rittershaus

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LA Opera presents a newly conceived and striking production of The Five Moons of Lorca

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United StatesUnited States Gabriela Lena Frank, The Five Moons of Lorca (Las cinco lunas de Lorca): Irene Rodríguez (dancer) and members of the LA Opera Chorus, Nicholas Roehler (piano) / Grant Gershon (choral conductor). Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, streaming now until 25.12.2020. (JRo)

Irene Rodriquez in The Five Moons of Lorca © Billy Yates

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Paris’s lockdown La Bayadère proves a fitting tribute to Nureyev’s final choreographic testament

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FranceFrance Rudolf Nureyev’s La Bayadère: Dancers of the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris / Philippe Hui (conductor). Livestream (available for only seven day click here) from the Opéra Bastille, Paris, 13.12.2020. (JPr)

Dorothée Gilbert (Nikiya) and Germain Louvet (Solor)

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Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s Cav & Pag provides the shot of versimo we surely need

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ItalyItaly Mascagni, Leoncavallo, Cavalleria rusticana / Pagliacci: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna / Frédéric Chaslin (conductor). Originally livestreamed (9.2.2020) on OperaStreaming by Edunova. This was reviewed on YouTube and it is available via SoundCloud. (CC)

Cavalleria rusticana (c) Rocco Casaluci

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Pittsburgh Opera presents David T. Little’s powerful and provocative Soldier Songs

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United StatesUnited States Little, Soldier Songs: Yazid Gray (baritone), Pittsburgh Opera Orchestra / Mark Trawka (conductor). Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters, Pittsburgh, 8.12.2020. Livestream viewed on 11.12.2020. (RP)

Yazid Gray in Soldier Songs © David Bachman

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